Posts Tagged tradition

A reprint of “The Shortest Day” by Patrick Swanson (Artistic Director, Revels, Inc.)
In our own time the Winter Solstice is indissolubly linked with the festival of Christmas, though it was not always so. The myths of the festival are so deeply embedded within us that we no longer ask why we bring an evergreen into the house or decorate with candles or hang mistletoe. We take these things for granted as we plunge into the hectic preparations for Christmas and the New Year. Overall there is a heightened sense of something significant happening at a fixed point on the calendar. For some it is Christmas night, for others it is watching the ball drop in Times Square. The commercial frenzy of gift buying is fueled by references to holly and stars and carols and the streets are illuminated by strings of twinkling lights. Sometimes the blurring of images can distort the meaning of the event that is being celebrated.

A guest post by Anna White
This past summer, after traveling north to spend time with relatives in Quebec and explore a little the environs of this year’s Christmas Revels, we headed “down east” to the coast of Maine. Like certain migratory birds and butterflies, we like to go back to the same place each year, camping along the shore and under the stars, as many generations of our family have done. Each year there are places we must visit and activities we must engage in, as is tradition — a certain lake with a raft that we must cast a line and take a dip in, a certain beach of sand made of broken shells and a bog-stained estuary which we must pass the day and cycle of the tides at, a certain cobblestone cove where one can find finely polished stones many colors of the rainbow. These are sacred spaces and rituals. Occasionally new discoveries are made which over the course of a few years turn into new traditions, weaving into the rhythm of our time and space away from home.

Posted by Washington Revels
Welcome to Washington Revel’s newly located and redesigned blog! We’ll be posting exciting content here from now through The Christmas Revels, so please subscribe to receive notice when we post, so that you can
meet the cast, crew, and other folks who are behind the scenes (and in the scenes) of the show, learn about some of the experiences of Revelers and the Reveling we do, read articles about some of the Québécois-themed content in the show, discover the meanings of several distinctly Revels elements that reappear in our celebrations, get a sneak peek of the fun we are having prepping for the show, and more!